"Chenle, save those fists for when you truly need them. Step Number Two towards reforming you: keep your reactions under control."
"Ew, imagine having self-control."
⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
in which a police office...
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"Someone get me a crutch," Jeno grumbled, uncharacteristically serious about the statement.
Everyone else simply ignored the stiffness or pain in their back and got on with life. What really tipped the scale for Jeno's tolerance was the abrupt halt that the bus made. It wobbled to and fro, strange choking noises accompanying it. He smacked his head against the window where Jaemin had once sat but had migrated an hour ago to sit beside a woken Renjun.
"Come on, guys," Mark cheered, hands going through the motion of cheering but his face a fallen pale lump of fatigue. "We made it in one piece."
"I left my stomach back at those pit latrines," Jisung complained but stood up nonetheless. The other passengers on the bus were in no better condition. Some of them stood up and sat straight back down, pained faces.
Chenle stretched his arms first to shake the sleep away. He was freezing cold. He supposed his body must've gone cold while he slept to slow down, quite natural, but the bus' lack of ventilation and adequate insulation in the windows allowed the cold air in. "Oh, we're here." He glanced hesitantly up at the drool spot on Jisung's bicep. He looked away. Maybe Jisung hadn't noticed yet, maybe he never would.
They dismounted the bus, and while Jeno didn't literally have crutches, he did need Donghyuck and Jaemin on either side of him to help him off. His face was forming a small yet compact bump that looked like an egg emerging from the depths of his forehead. He really had hit his head hard when the bus stopped...
They had to form a cluster while they listened to some rando explain the rules of their accommodation. The person was wearing a funny little sun hat and had completely bare arms even though the day had become rather chilly. The teenagers tried hard to listen. They really did. But the bus' departure was similar to when they left school this morning and when they pulled away from the pit latrines randomly placed in a forest on their way here.
"Alright, then I'll hand out the room keys if you all follow me inside."
Chenle nudged Jisung. "Are the room keys an incentive?"
The alpha smiled down at him, facial muscles contracting with his fatigue, the smile twitching.
They did end up following the small woman into the hotel. It was a really nice hotel. Chenle realised where the budget went before hiring bus transport. The floors were smooth and polished and tall pots of tall plants stood in the corners. There were elevators to take them up but a well-lit staircase was tucked away to the left. They congregated in front of the secretary's desk, who just so happened to be the woman they were following.
"I know that there was a survey sent out digitally to your school, and you all put your hopeful roommates into that survey."
The teachers nodded for them.
"Okay, well not all of you got the roommates you wanted. Unfortunately, alphas and non-alphas are separated, and I know a lot of you put the names Zhong Chenle and Lee Donghuck down, whoever you popular boys are."
The two omegas looked at each other with surprised-unsurprised expressions. The alphas were still at it. A few snickers broke through the large group, sneaky eyes passing over them.
"That being said, I'll call out the rooms and your partners. First off..."
Chenle spun around and threw one arm over Renjun's shoulder and the other over Donghyuck's. "We can hope," he stated. And hope they could.
It was like a miracle. Like a light in those pit latrines.
"Room 52, Zhong Chenle, Lee Donghyuck, Huang Renjun."
A higher power smiled down on them. The three left the alphas with empowered steps. They were roommates.
•・•・•
Chenle claimed the bed that was furthest from the door. Donghyuck's was beside him, and then Renjun's. For the purpose of feeling more connected, Renjun dragged his single bed across the carpeted floor so that it lay along the foot of both Chenle's and Donghyuck's beds.
The view outside was spectacular. The beach was only two minutes away and they could see the glistening water through the window. It looked lovely and sunny but the boys knew it was actually quite chilly. They left soon afterwards to find the room that the alphas were in. They were all staying on the floor above the non-alphas. Starting at the first room along the stretch, they knocked and checked who was inside.
"Hey there, do you three want to sleep with us tonight?" One weirdo classmate asked. Chenle, itching for a fight, was pushed along by Donghyuck, who grabbed ahold of the door, sent the alpha an irritated smile, and slammed it closed (making sure the latch hit him as it clicked shut).
The next door along was also unfruitful. Room 81 seemed to be a hotpot for jackasses, who were clearly some of the classmates who put Chenle and Donghyuck's names down in the survey. The next room after that was an ever-suffering elderly beta couple caught in the middle of the alphas. They were rather polite though, and Donghyuck closed their door gently.
"Room 83," Renjun said without much hope. He wasn't sure why he was even here. He wanted to crash on the bed in the room. He was also contemplating doing an online yoga session to sort out the crick in his neck.
Donghyuck knocked while the other two waited patiently. They had nothing better to do and being patient was a virtue to them. Finally, the person who opened the door was none other than Mark, bleary-eyed for the late afternoon. "Hi guys. You found us."
Looking beyond Mark, one such as Chenle could see Jeno and his egghead lying on his bed on his tummy, Jaemin straddling his back to massage the poor boy. They didn't even try to explain their questionable position, merely smiled and waved. It was a good thing that the omega could clearly see what was going on. That looked like a really good massage and Jeno was so immersed that he didn't even notice when the three arrivals came inside.
"Yeah, Jisung's not here. He's in Room 89," Mark yawned and face-planted onto his duvet. Donghyuck sat beside him while Chenle paced to their window, looking out to see if their view was any better. It was. They could see a chunk of the forest to the right of the hotel and they could see the ocean.
"He'll come here if he wants to see us," the ravenette hummed and pushed off the window, turning around with much more energy than he had before. He wanted to go outside and explore. A whole forest and beach were at their disposal, and yet when he observed his friends, Donghyuck was nodding off while sitting up, Mark was beginning to suffocate in his face-plant (also alseep), Renjun was staring off into nothingness, and the other two alphas were winding down from the massage. "Do you suppose the teachers will come and get us when dinner is ready?" He asked quietly.
Renjun nodded.
"Then we should probably try to get some sleep until then. It's almost four o'clock, but it's been a long day."
Renjun opted to rest on the same bed as Mark and Donghyuck, who curled up to each other, and Chenle lay down beside Jeno (with his egghead) and Jaemin, who really didn't seem to mind. They weren't awkward in that way. They were a cute sight to see; the six of them deep asleep on the double beds. Yes, they were given double beds. Chenle couldn't tell if he was annoyed at this or thankful that he and his roomies got singles.
